The Eagles 2011 season was supposed to end on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis with the world watching. Instead, it ends Sunday at the Linc in obscurity and misery.
There will be no Super Bowl for the Eagles. There will be no postseason for the Eagles. There wont even be a winning season for the Eagles.
Just a meaningless New Years Day game against the equally meaningless Redskins and then some very important decisions about coaches and players before the draft, free agency, minicamps and OTAs start up again in the spring.
The Eagles will try to win their fourth straight game on Sunday, but even a season-ending four-game winning streak and a non-losing record wont change the fact that this season is a failure. For the 51st consecutive year, an NFL season will end with somebody other than the Eagles celebrating a championship.
I was just out on the field at practice saying to myself, It wasnt supposed to end like this, Michael Vick said. But we just have to keep the faith and keep believing and just pray that better days are ahead, and I think they are.
A week ago, the Eagles were still thinking they had a chance to make a playoff run. If they won their last two games and had a couple other things go their way, they could find their way into the postseason and ride the late momentum deep into the playoffs.
Now, just a few days later, their goals have changed.
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Obviously, 8-8 wasnt the goal, Vick said. We expected to be in the postseason, but things didnt go that way and we just have to finish on a good note and finish strong. And thats what were playing for now, and nothings going to change with me sitting here talking about what couldve been or what shouldve been, that wont change.
At the end of the day, you just want to go out there and play with a sense of pride. You know things didnt go the way we wanted them to go and you just cant say that because were out of the playoffs that were just going to lay down and not finish the season strong.
I think there are a lot of positives that we can take out of this last game, ending the season on a four-game winning streak going into next season.
Even though the Eagles were formally eliminated from playoff contention last Saturday, when the Giants beat the Jets, their season was essentially over when they lost four straight games -- blowing a fourth-quarter lead in three of them -- to fall to 1-4.
If that didnt do it, a home loss to John Skelton and the Arizona Cardinals -- in which the Eagles again blew a fourth-quarter lead and fell to 3-6 -- made it clear the Eagles werent going anywhere this year.
I think, maybe it was an adjustment, maybe it was just not having a sense of urgency or unity, Cullen Jenkins said. You know, theres a lot of things that you can sit there and think about, but we just, for whatever reason, didnt do it early.
But weve pulled together. This team has had a lot of resolve and a lot of fight in them and thats good because thats something that you have to have, something you look for.
Jenkins was on the Packers last year when they started out 8-6 before winning their last two regular-season games to get into the playoffs. Theyre 20-1 since, with one Super Bowl and another perhaps on the way.
He says momentum is real.
Oh yeah, its something thats huge, Jenkins said. What we did at the end of the season last year and that carried over with them into this year. So I think its something that, especially for the young guys or the people coming in, you kind of get a taste of that winning. Like, Man, we won four games straight, we can do this.
So then for all of the young guys, their approach for next year will be wanting to go through that again, they dont want to go through the losing part, and then they know that we have the ability to do that.
This is three straight years without a playoff win and seven seasons in a row without a trip to the Super Bowl.
Wait till next year. Thats all the Eagles can tell their fans.
Were all going through it together, Vick said. We want to win just as bad as the (fans) do and, you know, certain things just didnt happen the way that we wanted them to and this is where the chips fell.
Were all disappointed and wish that the outcome could have been different but we apologize and hopefully we can give them want they want very soon.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com